Anentome helena

[Gordon Wright]

Like it says, any info on Anentome helena? Snail eating snail I understand, but I only see it in Euro forums. Not imported into North America? Hope I'm wrong.

[Crystal]

Like it says, any info on Anentome helena? Snail eating snail I understand, but I only see it in Euro forums. Not imported into North America? Hope I'm wrong.

I have found them on Aquabid.com, but they are scarce still.

Here is some information on the Anentome Helena.

Most of this information comes second-hand from several different sites, but

primarily from a seller on aquabid whom was generous with his information.

Name:

The Anentome Helena, commonly called Killersnail or Assassin snail.

Appearance:

Trumpet shaped shell with yellow and black coloring - very pretty. Youngsters said to have a browner

appearance which grows into the yellow/black.

Food:

These guys will eat algae, fish food, but their favorite food is snails. They

will not eat others of their species, or any of the larger mystery/cana snails.

They love pond snail, ramshorn (not sure about the mini ones), and Malasian

Trumpet snails (MTS), and other species as long as the Anentome Helena is

bigger than the snail in question even the victim's trapdoor (if they have

one) may not save it. Depending on size of the snails in question, they eat 1

snail every 1-2 days (some sites report as many as 2-3 per day and other report

1-2 per week). If no snails are available, a high protein diet is recommended.

Compatibility:

No snail-eating fish (loach, chiclid, etc) or other snail-eating-snail species.

Has been reported to have been kept with shrimp, snail-friendly fish, and other

larger snails with no issues.

Breeding:

Anentome Helena are not hermaphrodites (require both a male and a female).

They apparently do not lay eggs if they do not eat snails (or other high

protein foods). When they are breeding, they lay one aquatic egg a week (Note: this

has been contradicted in one other site, when ideal conditions were met and

about a hundred eggs appeared from 3 females in a month - only 1 out of 50

tanks with the same conditions saw this occur).

Size:

Max size 2-2.5 cm

Origin:

They are native to several different locations in Thailand (most common, but unconfirmed)

(and unverified rumors of other locations in Europe, Indonesia, SE Asia)

Tank size:

Min 5 gallon

Lifespan:

1-3 years

Their tolerance for copper and other chemicals/metals is unverified

- treat them like Pomacea Bridgesii for water chemistry.